With its upcoming ODG Smart glasses, the Osterhout Design Group is all set to put the Android Operating system right on your face in style.
The company has spent most of its time developing military grade Augmented Reality systems for the military and NASA, and caught the industry by surprise when they announced they planned to release a pair of consumer grade augmented reality glasses in 2015. They premièred the new device at this years’ CES.
Google glass is a monocular experience, whereas ODG Smart glasses have an HD Stereoscopic display. Built on the powerful Qualcomm 805 Snapdragon processor, these glasses replicate a 65 inch screen at 10 feet away. That’s a powerful tool for someone on an airplane, or stuck in the back of a car to have at their disposal. You can connect Bluetooth to them, work on a document, watch Netflix, read your email, -in full 16:9 aspect ratio! Anything your phone has, the Consumer Smart Glasses have, minus the cellular modem. The device does not require a phone to use it, and it doesn’t need to be tethered.
ODG R6 Smart Glasses are designed to be Government and Industrial-oriented products that are robust and powerful hands-free computing for demanding environments.
The ODG Smart glasses’ lenses are magnetic and simply pop in and out. The ear horns adjust or can be removed to fit different head sizes. Those who demo’d Consumer Smart Glasses at CES say the experience is like having full access to a table in front of your eyes, hands free. The company says the device is meant to be used like a tablet; you pull it out, interact with it, and put it away. Consumer Smart Glass isn’t necessarily a lifestyle device you will carry around 24/7.
Although the ODG Smart glasses are built on the Android operating system, Android is not designed for see-through, or dual displays, and the results of say an Angry Birds notification popping into view while using the device to navigate a bicycle trail could be disastrous, so ODG has developed its own skin for Android called Reticle OS, which takes into account what a head worn OS should do.
The fusion between the virtual and real world is exciting. Take Google Street View for example. Why do you need the street view, when you are actually ON the street? All you would need is the virtual arrow to show you where you need to go.
ODG R6S Smart Glasses are designed for Government and Industrial customers and demanding environments. Features cutting-edge Qualcomm® technology.
ODG has spent over $60 million to develop the Consumer Smart Glass hardware, based off the R6 and the R6S, a more robust version of the same technology meant to be worn in the dirt and the sand by government and industrial clients. The success of the ODG Smart glasses will depend however, on how many applications will end up being built for use on the hardware.
While at CES, the company was on a mission to show off its ODG Smart glasses to as many potential Android developers as possible. If you can develop applications for an Android based tablet, you can develop for the Consumer Smart Glasses basicaly, and a full SDK and developer hardware should be available later this year, though a final release has not been set.
A couple of options will be available to control the ODG Smart glasses, including a trackpad on the temple, a Bluetooth ring or controller. As for price, the company will only say “less than $1000”. The glasses are designed to come in at under 125 grams, or about 4 ½ ounces.
